Massachusetts Moose Rut

  

Moose are on the move in Massachusetts with the fall rut in full swing. Several cameras have recorded a few respectable bulls, but there are much bigger out there. I’m hoping to get a good daytime video of a majestic bull.

There are acorns everywhere! A far cry from last year’s acorn crop. I’m still finding plenty of concord grapes. I’m actually surprised given the bear traffic in some of these areas.

I was in new beaver habitat a few weeks ago that got me a bit pumped for new opportunities in 2025. I set up a few cameras and went back last week to explore some more. To my surprise the upper beaver dam let go sending volumes of water downstream, which breached the second dam. What were two beaver ponds two weeks ago are now mud flats. I did see a little beaver sign that might suggest a rebuild on the once larger pond. I’ll wait to late Oct. to check it out again.

Jim

Where Are The Bears

 

Where are the bears ? Find the seasonal food sources. Bears are now in a stage called hyperphagia. What that means is binge eating. Bears  need to fatten up  in the next few months before searching for a winter den. Right now, they are eating apples, grapes, nuts, and plants, such as Jewelweed. The video shows a young bear feeding on jewelweed as it crosses a beaver dam. https://youtu.be/AwAMspubGqw

Last week while checking a fisher camera trap set there were broken white oak  branches on the ground. You could see  where the branches had been ripped from the tree  and there were no acorns on them. The bark on the tree was disturbed ,and about seven feet up there were bear claw marks. This is a first for me, finding this type of bear sign. There is a fisher scent post a few feet away with a camera trap set. Might that  trail camera provide any information? Checking the SD card when I got home showed a young bear had visited this area numerous days  looking for  acorns beginning September 6^th. I set a camera trap watching the base of the oak tree. Hopefully, it will continue visiting.

                                        White Oak branch ripped from tree

Jim

Moose On The Move - Bears Foraging

 

Wow ! Trail Cameras were busy the last two weeks. They started picking up moose activity with the rut now in full swing, along with bears foraging. The cover pic is a young bear that was foraging on the beaver dam, then meandered over to the trail camera offering a unique video grab that I named “ Looking Through a Bears Eyes”  While checking my Fisher camera trap sets this week I encountered bear sign that I’ve never seen before. It was an interesting find. I’ll share it with you next week.

Jim

Bear Late Scent Marling

 

Bear “ Stomping Behavior “ can be exhausting as shown by this large Massachusetts male bear. Something else has his attention, I do not think it is the sound of the trail camera. He rested for ten minutes in front of the camera constantly winding and moving his head left and right. He was serious about scent marking, urinating while stomping. I wonder if there is a female in late estrus. https://youtu.be/GenFJOtcwVE

I have another area where a younger bear has been marking one small hemlock sapling every few days. I am guessing it’s a male. It will be interesting to see if any other bears scent marks the sapling.

 Jim

Busy Log Bridge With Bears

 

This Massachusetts log bridge was very busy with bear activity last week. The log was crossed six times by five different bears. This is the time of year when bears constantly feed (hyperphagia) in preparation for denning late fall. They will travel to take advantage of available food sources. I have been seeing ripe concord grapes and early apples in this area and bears are aware of these food sources. https://youtu.be/rssP2bAzzQk

Jim

Curious Black Bear Climbs Tree

 

I was wondering how long it would take before a curious bear would climb the tree and check the trail camera. The first part of the video shows the bear climbing the tree. The second half of the video is the same bear scent marking ,then sees the trail camera in the tree positioned facing down watching him.

Massachusetts – Browning HP5 & Bushnell Aggressor in tree positioned facing down. https://youtu.be/AxInVVU8B88

Jim

Maine RV Camping

 

 It’s the last day camping north of Acadia NP in Maine. The view couldn’t be better (pic below) while putting together this week’s Blog. Kayaking at an ocean bay  earlier in the week presented wildlife picture opportunities. While paddling along,  pogeys ( bait fish) started to jump out of the water. A good sign was pushing them to the surface. With fish jumping, ospreys started to circle. Then a young harbor seal popped up out of the water presenting a nice pic opportunity. My next challenge was to see if I could take a photo of an osprey catching a fish. Paddling along again, pogeys started surfacing. No seals were seen , but I was able to get an osprey diving and catching a fish. It’s not an awesome pic but better than anything I have to date.  An interesting observations the last two weeks, eagles will harass an osprey in attempt to get it to drop its catch and roosting eagles are harassed by seagulls.

Jim

Nice view !

Osprey catches fish.